The Resume

(March 24, 1919-February 22, 2021)
Co-founder and owner of City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco (1953)
Founder of City Lights Publishers (1955)
Beat Generation icon
Wrote the poetry collections 'A Coney Island of the Mind,' 'The Secret Meaning of Things,' 'These are My Rivers,' 'A Far Rockaway of the Heart,' 'San Francisco Poems' and 'Americus Book I'
Appeared in 'The Last Waltz'

Why he might be annoying:

He is a political anarchist and socialist.
He did not learn to speak English until age five.
He was a long-time friend of conservative radio host Michael Savage.
According to Savage, he always ranted about capitalism and worker oppression while eating in restaurants and would leave without tipping the waiter.
He associated with Marxist poets like Pablo Neruda and Ernesto Cardenal.
He has a pointless cameo in 'The Last Waltz,' uncomfortably reading a bad poem.
He was arrested on obscenity charges after publishing Allen Ginsberg's 'Howl and Other Poems' (1957).
The FBI called him 'a rabble-rouser, a beatnik, and, most probably, insane.'

Why he might not be annoying:

He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II.
He was stationed in Nagasaki, Japan after the bombing and became a pacifist after witnessing the widespread devastation.
He graduated Columbia University and the Sorbonne in Paris.
His poetry is popular with college students, progressives and bohemians.
His writings are considered more accessible and appealing than the controversial work of other Beat poets.
He was named the first Poet Laureate of San Francisco (1998).
His bookstore was declared a local landmark in San Francisco for its contributions to the city's cultural and literary development (2001).

Credit: Call me Calvin

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• 20th Century Poets
• 21st Century Poets
• Beat Generation Writers
• Call me Calvin's Profiles
• Celebrities who Served in World War II [1939-45]
• Entertainers Loved by Depressed Teens
• Horseshoe Haircut
• I am Portuguese
• I Attended Columbia
• I Died in 2021 (Ranked: 101)
• I Earned a Doctorate
• I Lived to 100 (Ranked: 101)
• I Performed at the Last Waltz [November 25, 1976]
• I was a Boy Scout
• I was Adopted or Orphaned
• Look at Me, I'm in the City
• Look at Me, I'm Wearing a Baseball Cap
• Painters
• Poets
• Profiles 15751-16000 (Ranked: 15793)
• Teachers
• Writers and Editors War Tax Protest Pledge Signers [January 30, 1968]

Year In Review:

In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2022, Out of 4 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2021, Out of 136 Votes: 52.94% Annoying
In 2019, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2018, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
In 2017, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
In 2016, Out of 8 Votes: 62.50% Annoying
In 2015, Out of 16 Votes: 56.25% Annoying
In 2014, Out of 14 Votes: 57.14% Annoying
In 2013, Out of 27 Votes: 55.56% Annoying
In 2012, Out of 18 Votes: 77.78% Annoying
In 2011, Out of 14 Votes: 92.86% Annoying
In 2010, Out of 17 Votes: 58.82% Annoying
In 2009, Out of 28 Votes: 42.86% Annoying
In 2008, Out of 37 Votes: 54.05% Annoying
In 2007, Out of 84 Votes: 70.24% Annoying
In 2006, Out of 118 Votes: 57.63% Annoying
In 2005, Out of 63 Votes: 47.62% Annoying